Supporting pillars in female form hold up the Erechtheoin porch
in Athens.Courtesy MacGillivray Freeman
Films

The “golden age” of Greece lasted for little more
than a century but it laid the foundations of western civilization.
The age began with the unlikely defeat of a vast Persian army by
badly outnumbered Greeks and it ended with an inglorious and
lengthy war between Athens and Sparta. This era is also referred to
as the “Age of Pericles” after the Athenian statesman
who directed the affairs of Athens when she was at the height of
her glory.

During this period of time significant advances were made in a
number of fields including government, art, philosophy, drama and
literature. Some of the Greek names most familiar to us lived in
this exciting and productive time. It was an era marked by such
high and diverse levels of achievement that many classical scholars
refer to the phenomenon as “the Greek miracle”. Even
those who don't believe in miracles will concede that it is
possible that the ever-competitive Greeks were spurred on to higher
levels of innovation in their field by seeing the bar being raised
in so many other areas.

None of this would have happened without an encouraging
environment and Athens was at that time at the “top of her
game”. Her citizens were supremely confident, filled with
energy and enthusiasm and utterly convinced that their city
provided what a combined London - Paris - New York might offer
today.

Military victory over the Persians, largely achieved under
Athenian leadership, set the stage. The transition in government
from the reluctant hands of the aristocratic elite into the mass of
common people also played an important role. More people felt that
their opinions mattered than ever before.

The theatre in Delos, where a whisper from center stage easily
reaches the back row.Courtesy MacGillivray Freeman
Films

One of the greatest inventions of the ancient Greeks was drama.
It evolved out of religious ritual and promptly proved to be both
an enduring and popular creation. Greek tragedies, featuring
historical and mythological events, were written and directed by
authors such as Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. (Many feel that
only Shakespeare merits inclusion in their company.) Each won
numerous prizes and critical acclaim and each added innovations to
the field of drama.

The lyric poet Pindar ushered in the era and became famous in
his lifetime for victory odes written to celebrate athletic
success. The writers of prose also flourished. Herodotus, regarded
as the father of history, wrote several illuminating books on the
Persian wars (and is still a often consulted source on ancient
Egypt). Another war historian, Thucydides, is still admired as a
lucid and evocative writer. Plato, whose writings largely survive,
is said to have penned the most poetical prose since the Bible.

The golden age gave us Socrates who steered philosophy in the
direction of morals, logic and ethics. His life, and the manner of
his death, had a massive impact on other major figures of that
epoch such as Plato, Aristophanes and Xenophon.

The physician Hippocrates, the sculptor Phideas, the architects
of the Parthenon, all contributed to an era that truly deserves to
be called “golden”.

What brought the golden age to an end? The long and mutually
murderous war between Athens and Sparta, with their conflicting
values and aspirations? Military misadventures? Dreams of
imperialism? Possibly the best answer lies in what the Greeks call hubris. Perhaps Athens overstepped its bounds and failed
to follow the twin admonitions of Delphi- know thyself and All things in moderation. Perhaps, like Icarus, it tried
to fly too close to the sun.